Prince Charming
by rurouni madness-battousai obsession
Summary: A bored fantasy author is running out of ideas for her new story, but when she runs into a man at a coffee shop she meets inspiration: A real life Prince Charming! KK AU
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kenshin or any of the characters or Starbucks (I just an unhealthy addiction to both of them!)**

**Hello everyone! This is my third Kenshin fanfiction and I hope you enjoy it! I actually got this idea from writer's block! (Weird, huh?)I really hope you like it so here is the first chapter of: Prince Charming.**

**Also, this is my first story in 1rst person, so be easy on me!**

**Summary: A bored fantasy author is running out of ideas for her new story, but when she runs into a man at a coffee shop she meets inspiration: A real-life Prince Charming! KK AU**

**Chapter One: **

"Have you ever gotten writer's block so bad that you wish it was a person so you could hit it over the head? (And watch it die a horrible and painful death?)"

I wrote that out in the notebook that I was supposed to be writing my new story on. Unfortunately, that was the only thing I wrote! I couldn't think of anything anymore! I was dried out at the age of 24!

I banged my head against my dining room table. A few seconds later I realized that it hurt, and I cried in pain. This wasn't the first time I had tried to sit down and attempted to write. In fact it was around the eightieth time in the past week! My publisher was going to call this afternoon and I had nothing to tell him!

What was I going to tell him? Was I going to tell him that I had no story whatsoever?

For the past three summers I had had a book published every year. It usually took my stories a year to get written, edited and published. This time I hadn't even thought of an idea and I had nine months to go!

I moaned and went to get some ice out of the freezer to place on my sore head.

I had always written fantasy works and they usually did pretty decently on the market. I had a nice sized fan club and they were all waiting anxiously for the next book. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm a sucker for pleasing other people. Most people think that I have a low self-esteem. (I wouldn't bother to argue with them.)

I collapsed on the chair again and glared at the notebook. 'What do I write about?'

Just then the phone rang and I jumped out of my seat, which crashed to the ground and I eventually tripped on.

While limping slightly, I hesitantly made my way to the phone, "Hello?" I asked when I picked it up.

"Kaoru, darling! How are you doing?" my publishers voice came through quite clearly and loudly.

"I'm… fine, Kamatari," I hesitantly spoke as I massaged my temple that was throbbing in pain.

"Honey, you don't sound too fine. Do you want me to come over there and give you some of my homemade miso soup?"

"No thank you, Mr. Kamatari!" I declined quickly. Kamatari's homemade miso soup tended to taste like feet. It sometimes was even worse than my own cooking (which was saying quite a bit considering that at the last family reunion, every one spent the majority of the time fighting for the bathroom.)

"Are you sure, honey? You don't sound so great."

"I just have a little headache at the moment," I replied as I got out some water from the refrigerator.

"Oh! I'm sorry, darling! I hope it's not getting in the way of your writing!"

"Actually, that's kind of what I wanted to talk about."

I started to twist my hair with my finger, as I always tend to do when I got nervous.

"I kind of don't have an idea on what I'm going to do…" I mumbled as I started to nervously twirl it faster.

"Do you mean you've written fifty pages and you don't know what to do?" His voice was getting a little bit on edge.

I didn't reply.

"Forty pages," His voice was just a wee bit nervous.

"No."

"Twenty-five pages," he was starting to get a little panicky.

"No."

"Ten pages!" I could hear him on the other end tapping his fingernails on his desk.

"No…"

"Five pages!" His breathing was getting quicker.

"No!"

"One page! Tell me you've gotten one page accomplished!" he was shouting by then.

"No!"

"Tell me that you've got at least the basic plot of the story!" I could almost see his right eye twitching.

"… not really."

There was a long pause, but finally he said something… okay _yelled_ something, "Kamiya! What the hell am I paying you for? We have a five year contract and all you do is sip mocha and watch soaps! I love you and all, but if you don't come up with an idea by tomorrow, you're fired!"

He kept on breathing harshly for a while but after he had spit that out, he said something a little bit gentler.

"I'm sorry, honey. But you have to get working or it's either going to be you or me that gets fired. Again I love you, but I really don't want to be job-less. I have to say though that I do love your work and I will be disappointed if you don't call me by tomorrow. Hugs and kisses!" I could hear him blow a kiss on the other line and hang up.

I rolled my eyes as I placed the phone back in its cradle. Only Kamatari would end a threatening conversation like that with 'hugs and kisses'.

In the end I was kind of mad, but not at Kamatari. 'Why can't I think up an idea?'

He had mentioned that I had an unhealthy addiction to coffee and daytime dramas, which was entirely too true.

'Maybe if I went to Starbucks I could get a little bit of an idea,' I thought as I picked up my purse and my notebook and walked out of my small apartment.

Starbucks was only a block away from me (like it is from everywhere) and I could easily walk there in two minutes.

When I walked in, I was surprised that no one was there except for a redheaded man who was behind the counter and glancing through a magazine. I sighed loudly and sat down at one of the small tables. I knew that if I got coffee now I would never be able to concentrate.

I tied my long black hair into a ponytail and glared at the notebook. What would the story be about? Would it be a quest? Would it be a romance? Would it be mainly about character development? Or would it be a mixture of all three?

I sat there for an hour pondering until I finally lost my patience and I threw the notebook to the other side of the room. Unfortunately I didn't see the redhead in front of me and it aimed directly at his head and he fell to the floor. Normally he probably wouldn't have fallen down; but have you ever met a really pissed off author who has studied kendo for the majority of her life?

I gasped, "I'm so sorry!" I apologized as I ran forward to the very startled man.

He struggled to get up as I tried to pull him.

"Oro," was all I heard the man mutter as he stumbled to his feet.

I was confused. What did 'oro' mean? Was it some kind of foreign curse word? After all this man did have bright red hair and that seemed very foreign for someone who lived in Japan.

When the man could finally stand up straight, he looked up at me and smiled. "I would hate to be the man who tried to attack you, miss."

I blushed furiously and tried to avoid his eyes. I mumbled another sorry and tried to pick up my notebook again. But he got there before me. "I believe this is yours, miss."

He handed it to me and I turned a deeper shade of red. What a gentleman! This man at least deserved an explanation of why he just got pelted over the head with a notebook!

"I'm so sorry! I'm an author and my publisher said that I need to get an idea by the end of today or I'll get fired!" I gazed at my watch and realized that it was 5:00 already. "Shit!" I spoke a bit too loudly.

The man chuckled but then he finally replied. "I love to read. What's your name? I might have read your books before."

"You probably haven't, I'm not that famous" I said modestly as I scratched the back of my head.

"Well I've read a lot. What's your name?"

"Kaoru Kamiya," I replied as I gazed into his deep violet eyes. I felt like I was about to drown in them. He was so perfect and hot! Then I realized something, 'Wait! If he's this perfect, he probably either has a wife or even if he didn't, he probably wouldn't be too interested in me!'

"Kaoru Kamiya!" he exclaimed "I've heard of you! Didn't you write The Silent Sword? I just finished that book and recommended it to a friend and he loved it too! And believe me, my friend Sano normally doesn't like to read!"

'Damn this man is so perfect that he's even puffs up my ego!' I thought as I stared at this seemingly flawless man. His muscles were perfectly toned and his eyes could melt any girl's heart on the coldest days. Even the cross shaped scar on his left cheek made him look handsome.

I looked to the side and muttered, "I'm not that good."

The man laughed and walked back of the counter again. "Hey! Do you want some coffee?"

"Okay."

I smiled at him and then opened my purse.

"Damn it! I forgot my money at home!" I started to blush again as I realized that a lady shouldn't curse in front of a man, especially one this dreamy!

The man laughed a little and said, "That's fine! It's on the house!"

I tried to refuse, but he wouldn't take it. "You've gone through enough stress; I insist!"

I sighed and gave in. Normally I wouldn't have, but I was really tired.

He asked me what my favorite kind was and got it ready for me. When he handed me my mocha I noticed something. He had calluses on his hands that you would only find on people that had studied kendo.

"You used to study kendo, didn't you?"

"I did," he muttered as he grabbed a rag and started to clean the table.

"What's your name?" I asked as I watched him scrub away imaginary stains on the perfectly clean counter.

He looked up at me with those dreamy eyes again. "Kenshin Himura."

I gasped, "The Kenshin Himura? The one who was a legend at my high school and led the school to the championships three years in a row?"

He looked down. "If you mean Juppongatana High… yes I did…"

"You were the biggest legend in the school! When I went there all the people on my team were always compared to your standards and no one could match up to it! I always tried to, but no one could reach the 'Battousai's' level! Why did you quit?"

He looked to the side and he said in a rather sharp voice, "I had a very painful experience and I don't wish to discuss it."

"Oh," I said quietly as I began to sip my mocha. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, I finally spoke up. "Why do you work here then? I've never seen you here before and I come in all the time."

"I guess I like to wander a bit."

He gave me his breath-taking smile and walked passed me.

Something struck me at that moment.

'Wander… swordsman… wandering swordsman…'

"Rurouni!" I shouted and Kenshin's face turned to me and stared.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Thank you so much!" I ran up to him, threw my arms around him, and kissed him on the cheek which held to scar on it.

I got off of him and started dancing around the room and laughing.

He touched the place that I kissed him on the cheek and stared at me. Finally he asked, "Thank you for what?"

"You just gave me the idea for my new book, Kenshin! Thank you so much!" I picked up my purse, notebook, and mocha and jogged towards the door. When I reached there, I turned around and waved at him.

"Bye!" I called cheerfully.

He waved back and whispered 'bye' back with a confused look on his face. He turned around and shook his head as I dashed home with a huge grin on my face.

**A/N: So…? How do you like it? Should I continue? And if I do… should I have it completely focus on K/K? Or should I bring in some other pairings, and if I do, what pairings?**

**Also, I don't know anything about the Japanese publishing business or how many Starbucks' they have. If you do know, please tell me!**

**P.S. I usually never use Japanese words in my fics, but I had to add the 'oro' part!**

**Please review! **

**-rm/bo **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Starbucks tear **

**A/N: Oh my gosh! You guys are so amazing! (glomps all her reviewers) I never expected that many reviews for the first chapter! It was because of you all that I decided to continue this little fic! I would also like to say that I found out that there actually are a lot of Starbucks in Japan! (thank you anime pulse podcast) **

**Anyway, back to the story! **

Chapter 2:

I swear, Kamanatari is the LOUDEST person I have EVER met. I called him to tell him about my idea and he started screaming. But that wasn't the embarrassing part. Then he started crying and proclaiming to the whole world, 'My baby has an idea! My baby has an idea!' Even though I was in the safety of my own apartment I crouched down low on the ground and prayed to any god available to hear to 'take me now'.

"Well, darling, I need tell my superior, and we'll have lunch at that French restaurant you like so much tomorrow hugs and kisses!" Kamatari hung up the phone.

Somehow I doubted that his superior had any trouble hearing Kamatari's joyous laments. But maybe he was deaf.

I put the phone back in its cradle and walked over to my couch to collapse. I wanted to tell Megumi, my roommate, but she was working in the clinic. She had just recently received her doctorate in pediatric health care and for her prestigious title she had to work long hours. She was two years older than me and had acted sort of as my support system when my mother had died of cancer when I was fourteen. Megumi's parents had both died in a car crash when she was eight and she was put into foster care and was eventually adopted a few years later, but that didn't make the trauma any less painful.

She was adopted by my neighbors who were unable to have any children and at first I couldn't stand her. She was one of the most arrogant people I had ever met. She always seemed to only be thinking about herself. But when my mother died she became the most compassionate person I had ever known. After that she sort of nurtured me under her wing since I didn't have any older siblings and I myself had to be strong for my little brother's sake.

I sighed and was about to pick up my pencil to start drawing out a plan for my work but I was stopped by a loud banging on my door. I groaned and slowly stood up. Can't people wait until I at least have the basic story outlined! I don't want to loose my idea!

I opened the door and came face to face with my younger brother Yahiko Kamiya. His ruffed up hair brought out the scowl on his 15-year-old face. He pushed past me with his luggage in hand.

"I need a place to stay for the night."

I was about to comment on how utterly rude he was acting but I decided against it. Yahiko was too proud to come here wanting a place to stay. He hated having to rely on other people.

"Is it dad and Aneko again?" I asked as I started to drag a futon out of the closet.

He grunted and I knew that that was the case.

My dad had gotten remarried again when I was sixteen and Yahiko was seven. She had been married before but her husband had left her for another women. Aneko had been barren and in my opinion it was a good thing that she was. She was harsh and she made Yahiko and I stick to a strict schedule. Even though I have a bit of a temper I knew the smart thing to do was to just obey it and go along with it. Yahiko on the other hand fought back.

For this reason Yahiko and Aneko would always be at each other's throats for father's attention. Unfortunately it seemed that Aneko had somewhat of a double sided personality. Whenever father was around she would act like she cared for Yahiko and was only out for his best interests. But whenever she alone with Yahiko she would slap him and command him to do work around the house that was pretty much useless.

The only reason I knew this was because Yahiko trusted me. As much as he called me ugly I knew that he probably trusted me more than anyone else in the world. This was the third time this year that he had come into my house demanding for a place to stay because of father being too trusting of Aneko and not trusting Yahiko's judgment. What Yahiko didn't know was that I would tell father about some of the extreme stuff , like her slapping him and ending up giving him a bruise that lasted over two weeks (which he told Dad was just from practicing had in kendo and getting hit on his face).

Dad ended up confronting Aneko but she feigned innocence saying that Yahiko was snapping back and refusing to do his work and she didn't mean to hit him that hard. My father unfortunately believed her. But Aneko did hold off on a lot of the physical abuse after that.

Yahiko would usually run away after dad and Aneko both ganged up on him and dad didn't trust him.

Trying to lighten the mood I suddenly decided to tell Yahiko about my exciting news. "Guess what?"

"What? You finally decided to get plastic surgery after a baby cried at the site of your face?" Yahiko sneered.

"Shut up. Anyway I finally got an idea for my new book!"

"Why's that such an accomplishment? Dad says you're so 'creative'. Coming up with a stupid idea isn't that hard."

"You try to publish a book per year and then you complain to me!"

"It's not like your books plots are so complex! Some hero has to go after a talisman, treasure, prophesy, or sword and then they have to save the land!"

"Come on! You know my plots are more complex then that!" I knew that Yahiko likes my books and his way of telling me is 'It didn't suck as much as I thought it would.' But that's only after he read them. Whenever I'm stressed and in the process of writing it he is always going on about 'How hard is it to right some dumb story!'

He was about to say another snide remark when we heard a key turn in the key-hole and someone opened the door. It was Megumi.

I grinned. "Megumi!" I ran over and hugged her. "Guess what? Guess what?"

Megumi groaned, she was obviously not in the mood for this. "What?" she snapped as she flopped down onto the couch and put her hand over her forehead.

"I finally have an idea for my story!" I squealed.

Megumi grimaced at the high-pitched noise and replied, "That's great, now you'll stop having rampages every night while I'm trying to sleep! Now leave me alone; I'm going to bed!"

Yahiko and I gazed at each other as the angry doctor stomped out of the room. We both shrugged and continued getting Yahiko set up for the night.

888

I was so tired from all of the excitement the previous day that I ended up sleeping in until 10:00.

I sighed, rolled out of bed, and got a shower. When I had exited the bathroom I noticed that Yahiko was still asleep on his futon.

"Yahiko, what the hell are you doing!" I said as I picked up the futon and dumped the fifteen-year-old lump out. "It's a school day! You've probably already missed a couple of classes!"

Yahiko rubbed his head and gave me an incredibly rude hand gesture in which I socked him in the stomach the second he got to his feet. He glared at me all the way until I walked in my room. I had to get ready to see Kamatari!

888

The restaurant was so quaint and beautiful and the waiters and waitresses were so respectful. I kind of felt a bit guilty that Kamatari was taking me out to eat just because I had an idea.

The waiter seated me and I sat down at a table with a very happy man who was wearing a bright purple shirt and his black hair fell down to his shoulders.

"It's so wonderful to see you again, baby!" He got out of his chair and gave me a big hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.

I sighed a bit. It was really sad that Kamatari was the only man who had ever kissed me and I was 23.

"So, what's the story about?"

"Well it's about this man who's a rurouni and he wanders around and saves people!"

Kamatari's expression faltered, "Honey that's nice and all but that doesn't sound like a fantasy novel."

"But the thing is, he used to be a feared vampire, but he's atoning for his sins and he constantly has to deal with the people from his past to save the people he loves."

Kamatari's wide smile returned. "There's my girl!" He winked at me as he gave the waiter his order. Although he might have been winking at the waiter, I couldn't really tell…

888

I got back home around 4:00 that afternoon because after Kamatari and I had finished he had had the sudden urge to go on a shopping trip. I would never admit it to Megumi, but that man could shop for a hell of a lot longer than I could! Then again I doubt even Megumi could shop as well as him…

I sat down at the kitchen table and pulled out my notebook. I started drawing plot maps, but every time it came to the part where the man's love interest came in, I didn't know what to write!

I groaned in frustration and closed the notebook. 'This sucks.'

I then was suddenly hit by an awesome idea! 'Maybe if I go back and see Kenshin, he'll help me get over the writers block again!' I raced out the door and headed down to the street.

Once I was had reached Starbucks I was breathing hard and had to wait a while to catch my breath. I looked up to the counter and my hopes plummeted. There was a girl who looked about 18-years-old behind the counter who had her hair in braids and was humming so peppy tune under her breath.

I was about to turn around and leave when I heard her call, "Hey! What are you doing? Don't you want some coffee?"

I stared to feel guilty so I decided to get my mocha. But do you know what I should have done? Run. Run far away and never return! So what if Kenshin was hot, adorable and the sweetest person I ever met, I should have run.

When I had given her my order she looked at the coffee and she started to sniffle.

'Oh my god! Did I just offend her?'

"This is Lord Aoshi's favorite kind! But I never see him anymore! Why did he have to leave me why?"

888

(Three hours later)

"… a-a-and then wh-when I was thirteen he told me that my kick was improving but it would never match Hyottoko's level! I tried so hard!" Misao blubbered

I patted the girl on the back gingerly and stared down at my empty mocha cup and sighed. It had been empty for the past two and a half hours. I had gotten no where in my story, except deciding not to have any obsessive girls who where in love with Aoshi in my story. I still didn't know where Kenshin was and I knew that it would be rude to Misao. She in the course of three hours had drunk ten large frapachinos and it really wasn't helping this situation in the slightest.

I was about to say something when I heard the twinkling of someone entering through the front door. I hadn't heard that sound for about two hours because people eventually gave up on trying to get there orders in while Misao was giving me a detailed explanation of everytime she saw Aoshi.

'I swear if I ever meet Aoshi, I'll kill him. I'll kill him!'

I turned around and saw Kenshin staring at the scene before him with extreme embarrassment in his features. He quickly stammered, "I'm s-so sorry, Miss Kaoru! Please forgive her!"

I smiled and gave him a little nod. I felt sorry for him because he probably had to deal with her all the time and he looked so cute looking all embarrassed like that.

"Miss Misao, what have I told you about the coffee?"

Misao looked ashamed, "The coffee is not for me. It's for the customers."

"And what have I told you about talking about Aoshi with complete strangers?"

"Not to do it," she muttered.

"…and?"

"…and I should never even think about the topic of Aoshi in front of complete strangers."

Kenshin smiled, "Good! Miss Kaoru is there any way I can repay you for this?"

I honestly did want to get some sort of money out of this but I couldn't do that to Kenshin, "No."

Kenshin frowned for a little bit, but then his face lit up with an idea. "How about I take you out to that new restaurant? What's it called? Oh yeah! The Akabeko!"

'Is he asking me out?' I could feel the blush rising to my cheeks. "S-sure!" I stuttered.

Kenshin gave me a warm smile. "That's great! How about on Saturday at 6:00? I'll meet you there!"

I nodded, feeling slightly lightheaded and walked out the door. Once I was out of range of Starbucks I shouted in triumph. When I got back to the house I didn't care that Yahiko was yelling at me for getting back so late and Megumi was yelling at me because or Yahiko. But I didn't care! All that mattered now was Kenshin, our date, and my book!

I started drawing plans furiously on Kenshin's love interest which was suspiciously starting to sound like me….

**A/N: Yeah! I finished it! So I was wondering if you guys could possibly be so kind and help me get my goal of 30 reviews for the next chapter? I also love it if you gave me more of your feedback on pairings that you want in the story. I'm almost finalized with them, but I still want other people's opinions! **

**Thanks bunches! **


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